The present invention relates to improvements in a data package assembly, especially applicable to various types of prepaid debit cards associated with a prepaid account. The account is debited as the consumer uses the account to purchase services such as telephone services, or purchase goods, withdraw cash, etc.
In the past there have been two different basic types of structures for packaged data card assemblies. A first type is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,381 and 5,918,909, which are hereby incorporated by reference. In this type of assembly, the data card and the package, respectively, are separately manufactured from different substrates, and thereafter detachably interconnected in such a way that personal identifying indicia (e.g. a PIN number) on the card is concealed by the package. Account activation indicia, also on the card in the form of a magnetic strip or bar code, is exposed by the package so that the prepaid account can be activated at the cash register when the packaged card assembly is purchased. The problem with this type of packaged assembly is the combination of the personal identifying indicia and the activation indicia on the same card. Such small cards can easily be stolen from a store by removing the cards from their larger packages, and can then be resold either after illegal activation of the prepaid accounts or after deceiving buyers into believing that the accounts have been activated.
The second basic type of prior packaged card assembly is one wherein the card and the package have been manufactured jointly from the same substrate, with a perforated or die cut line providing easy detachment of the card from the package. In such case the personal identifying indicia is on the card in a location concealed by the package, while the account activation indicia is on the package in an exposed location for activation of the prepaid account at the cash register. This type of assembly does not encourage a thief to remove the card from the larger package, but produces a card of relatively low durability commensurate with that of the package. Solutions to this latter problem have been attempted, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,209 which is hereby incorporated by reference, wherein the card portion of the common substrate of a card/package combination is laminated in plastic to improve its durability. However the resultant durability does not approach that obtainable by manufacturing the card separately from the package.
When the prepaid account is not of the activatable type, the presence of personal identifying indicia on the card is especially conducive to theft, or unauthorized use of a lost card. For this reason some previous packages, especially those having prepaid debit cards not requiring activation, exclude the personal identifying indicia from the card and instead include such indicia on a separate item concealed within the package. However, this creates a significant manufacturing drawback because of the need to match the card with the separate personal identifying indicia.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the above-described prior packaged card assemblies by providing a unique new basic type of assembly.
According to one preferred aspect of the invention, a data package assembly includes at least one data card having a first substrate with opposite faces, and indicia correlated with a prepaid account. A package has a second substrate separate from the first substrate, the data card being detachably connected to the second substrate. Personal identifying indicia correlated with the account are concealed by the package. In addition, first account verification indicia on the card, and second account verification indicia on the package, both different from the personal identifying indicia and both correlated with the same account, are visibly exposed, the package including an aperture visibly exposing the first account verification indicia.
In another preferred aspect of the invention, the package has the personal identifying indicia separate from the data card, preferably on a detachable portion of the second substrate.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.